New board to replace an old Ride Decade, a few questions about waht to look for.

Posted: 30 August 2012 12:33 PM

Hi,

I’m looking to buy a new board for this season and was looking for a little advice. I’ve currently got a Ride Decade 162W from 06 (I think). This is normal camber is is reasonably stiff (not that I’ve much to compare too). I normally ride in Austria in a resort that does not get tons of powder, so daily groomed runs, reasonable amount on artificial snow and ice in places every year. Towards the end of the day certain runs can get a bit slushy too (leading to hard packed icy surface the following morning).

Other than the Ride Decade I did 4 days on a DC PBJ 154 in New Zealand last year. I liked the flex of this and it was so easy to initiate turns on, however I could see this being a bit unstable on bigger mountains. I also tried a friends Rossignol Trickstick rental last year back to back on the same run against my Decade. Again the flex was nice and turn initiation easy, but it was missing the stability of the decade when going a bit faster.

I tend to ride mostly on piste, though am looking to spend a bit more time off the edge of the runs. I can jump, though don’t and won’t ever be going big. I can just about 180 off a bit of a kicker (30% success rate, need to work on this!). My aim is to build this up a bit so I’ll be staying on the piste most of the time but using the lips and edges for some fun, with a bit of switch and butters, manuals etc mixed in (hopefully). I don’t go in the park, apart from the odd small box where they are not to far out of my way.

So after that huge background dump I’m looking for something that is easier to turn than my current board, with more flex, but not too unstable when I point it down the blacks. I’ve done a fair bit of reading and like the sound of the Rossignol Taipan, however have today come across the Templar which sounds very similar to me but with the magne-traction which I think would be useful given the normal conditions I ride in.

So the questions,
Are the Taipan and Templar as suitable as I think they seem for how I ride?
Are there any other makes/models that would be worth looking at?
Do you know of any reviews out yet for the Templar (I know its only just out but not so sure if its a good gamble vs the well liked Taipan)?
Does Magne-traction suck when its gets softer?
I thinking of going to a 158ish board, does this sound ok to you for 188cm (6’2”) and 85 kg?
Are either of the boards going to be noticeably flexier than my current decade?

Unfortunately being based in the UK really limits the availability of demo boards, and where they are available its fridge only limited to what the on site shop stocks :( so I’m not going to get any test opportunities worth doing.

Cheers

Posted: 05 September 2012 10:20 PM

Sorry for the delayed reply… busy time of year at SB-RV getting all of the board info uploaded for the coming season.

To answer your question, yes the Templar or Taipan would definitely feel softer than your Decade. I rode a decade a few years back and from what I remember it was quite stiff. Anything that has rocker in the tips will feel softer. As fra as Mag edges go, they’re good on ice but in soft snow they can be a bit too aggressive, but your riding style will adjust and it has to be really spring soft to really be noticeable. I think if you’re looking for a versatile all-mountain board that’s a bit softer than your Decade but isn’t going to confine you to the park then these Rossi decks are a good shout.

A couple more boards you might like which are freestyle boards without a super soft flex and that have a flat or hybrid camber so you get the extra powder floatation and forgiving nature of rocker without the wash-out.

Burton Process Flying V
Rome Reverb Rocker
Nitro Addict Gullwing or Team Gullwing
K2 Lifelike

On the firmer side of the freestyle Rocker spectrum, you might like:

Capita Indoor Survival
Ride Machete

Posted: 07 September 2012 12:56 PM

Hi Rich, no worries about the delay, data uploading sucks so feel for you having to get that job done.

Thanks for the info. I’ll certainly take look at the other boards you suggest. A bit more reading to do before buying :D. Pretty sure one of my friend has a Machete so might even be able to have a go on that.

Cheers